What a season we are in. We’ve had a lot the last few days. This week is winding down which means next week, the week we’ve been… waiting for? Dreading? Looking forward to? Is fast approaching. We have been using this week to wind down at work and do some major preparation for P’s surgery next week. This week was the good week. Next week will be a challenge.
Last night we met with a couple we met through the support group our surgeon encouraged us to get involved in. They gave us an hour and a half of their precious family time so we could learn from their experience. Their a-dorable little almost 6 month old baby boy had a Coarctation of the Aorta (CoA) too. They were fantastic. They brought pictures of everything! They even showed us his scars from the surgery. It was so helpful to see what Pierson would look like immediately after surgery and what to expect when he’s hooked up to all those machines and monitors. They were so real about everything! It was fantastic! It’s one thing to hear things out of a medical professional’s mouth but it’s quite another to meet another family who has gone through it. They were honest about their emotions – it’s good to know that all the feelings we’ve been having are ok and normal. It’s also good to know that it’s ok to have a meltdown during all of this. We dread handing Pierson over the day of the surgery and it was good to know that they didn’t so much like that either! They were straight with us that this next week is pretty much going to suck – but it does get better. There is hope! Soon it will be over and life will be life again. It’s just great to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel… not just because it says so on the sheet of paper but because we’ve seen it with our own eyes and met people who have come out of it. Driving out of the parking lot after we met with them Jeff and I said almost simultaneously "That feels a lot better".
One of my friends who over the last 11 years of our friendship has constantly spoken truth into my life gave me some wise words about this valley we are walking through. "…when God made P he saw the kink and he knew it would happen. He knew that P would need surgery. But he didn't stop it. He let it form that way. He has a plan, though in the midst we would often like to avoid the pain of sanctification, but you are where you are because God wanted you here. He is not surprised by this news. His plan is in full motion. You and Jeff have an opportunity to teach P that God is healer, the great physician, and that he has gifted these doctors with gifts to heal and help. What a testimony. You and Jeff have an opportunity to show the doctors/nurses/and everyone else you could ever imagine and wonder, "Where did they come from?" to be a living, breathing testimony that God is bigger, he does as he pleases and you rest that his ways are your ways and his thoughts are not your thoughts and you show the world that God can use science to help heal and restore. Had this situation not happened, this "world" would have never existed for you, but new doors have been opened. Take them. Trust in God to lead. To heal. To transform. What a beautiful picture of taken a broken heart and making it heal and do what it needs to do. Much like God does with ours, transformation."
This "world" that we are in did not exist to us even 2 weeks ago. It’s a pretty interesting world and we’ve learned a lot of things. We didn’t even know what a CHD really was. We had never heard of Coarctation of the Aorta. Now I know some of you are thinking… how could Jane not know this, isn’t she in the medical field? Yes, I am, but my focus is geriatrics. I have no patients who had this because CHD kids didn’t live through childhood years ago. In this "world" we are in we are meeting some other really awesome Christian couples. It’s funny. I don’t know if as Christians we’re just more prone to fellowship or if you just can’t go through something like this and not be face to face with God or what. We want to be able to help other couples too. We want to raise P to know that God has made him fearfully and wonderfully and has an incredible purpose and a plan for him, heart surgery and all. God is actively working in the life of our little boy. We are walking where He wants us to right now. It’s scary but it’s where He wants us to be and we have to trust that. We are going to have some very hard days ahead but He will still be with us.
In other news, Jeff and I are both off work for a little while. With Jeff working in the family business taking some time off for P’s surgery (even in the peak of their busiest season) is fine, which is a huge blessing. I work for the greatest company in the world and I promise you my bosses are better than yours. I will be off on leave so I can focus on nothing but helping P get back to being a happy healthy little boy with a fully functioning heart for the next month. I was actually encouraged to do this. Not many people can say that about their employers. It’s a blessing knowing that my full time job for right now is to get Pierson better. What an incredible blessing. I know that this is His hand as well. We are truly blessed beyond measure.
We are getting ready for July 4. This weekend will mark a series of good days before our hard days begin next week. We are having some friends over to cook out July 4 and then we’ll all go watch fireworks. One of these aforementioned friends include Pierson’s beloved "girlfriend". He knows she’s coming over and is excited. "Mommy, when is B coming? I lub her!" His gf’s parents are amazing and have been praying with their daughter for God to heal Pierson’s heart. P’s best friend since before they were born, Jack has also been praying for God to heal Pierson’s heart. What must those sweet prayers of 2 and 3 year olds to heal their friend’s heart sound like to God’s ears? It must just be the sweetest song.
P and Jack at P's birthday party. It's blurry but I love this one of them!
P with his precious little love
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